Recommended Links

Peace Through Health

International Conference in Shiraz, Iran

27.11.2018 On November 13-16th, 2018, an International Conference on Peace Through Health was arranged by the two medical universities in Shiraz, Iran. Several IPPNW affiliate members spoke at the conference, including Dr. Leila Moein of Iranian Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR Iran), who led a presentation about the role of women in promoting Health through Peace. Dr. Arun Mitra and Dr. Shakeel-ur-Rahman of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) were also present, and talked about IDPD's accomplishments over the years, as well as the serious, ongoing health effects of uranium tailings on populations in India.

Doctors for Peace

IPPNW affiliates of the Western Balkans Region stand up together for human rights.

21.09.2018 War and armed conflict constitute a serious threat to health, yet they are often neglected in our medical education. Researchers have long before predicted that by 2020 war will be one of the top 10 causes of disability and death. The events unfolding over the last decade globally have shown that this date has been brought forward. Health professionals are the ones, who are not only dealing with the reality of these predictions, rather they have also become victims of war, considering their role to being near those in need. On this International Day of Peace, should we as medical professionals take a stance on war? Shall we stand up for the human right to peace?

Bridges of Understanding

31.08.2018 Since 1995, medical students from different countries of former Yugoslavia have been taking part in the IPPNW program "Bridges of Understanding". They are invited to Würzburg to serve a one-month internship at the Missionsärztliche Klinik / Juliusspital (Klinikum Würzburg Mitte). They work in various departments, staying together in the house of St. Michael near the hospital. IPPNW medical students also organised a good program for their free time.

Dialog between IPPNW and respresentative of French Presidency in Paris

30.07.2018 In the wake of our 18th June letter regarding the US decision to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear agreement, the office of the French Presidency received a delegation of three IPPNW representatives at Élysée Palace on Monday 30th July. His Excellency Etienne de Gonnevielle, strategic affairs councillor, condemned the US decision and shared IPPNW’s concerns about the humanitarian consequences that would result from the US reinstating sanctions upon Iran. He also revealed that President Macron’s government will continue adhering to the JCPOA alongside the European Union, UK, Russia and China and commented that the French government considers the Iran agreement to be a good model for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Trump’s reckless Iran decision increases nuclear danger

08.05.2018 IPPNW condemns the withdrawal of the United States from the international nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, announced today by Donald Trump.The decision by the US President to ignore key advisers and allies and to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Iran immediately increases the chances of new and intensified conflict in the Middle East and could provoke Iran into resuming its nuclear weapons program.The International Atomic Energy Agency has certified Iran’s compliance since 2015, when the agreement to halt all activities that could lead to development of nuclear weapons was reached with the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China, Germany, and the European Union.

Third round of the Medical Peace Work MOOC

27.03.2018 On May 7, 2018 the University of Bergen offers a new run of our interactive MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. This MOOC will help you to understand how violence affects health and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. ICAN staff has contributed to the development of one of the six case topics.

UN Programme of Action on Small Arms 3rd Review Conference: How much progress?

02.03.2018 IPPNW was among the organizations that helped pass the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons 17 years ago. At that time we were optimistic that the landmark agreement would make real inroads into achieving its goal to “reduce the human suffering caused by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and to enhance the respect for life and the dignity f the human person through the promotion of a culture of peace.”

“Service to humanity” is heartbeat of IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project

13.02.2018 The IPPNW Nigeria Radio Project has at its heartbeat “service to humanity”- creating awareness of the threat armed violence poses to health and healthy communities and providing relevant information about public health approaches to preventing armed violence, thus equipping the public with knowledge that can drive peace building in society.

02.02.2018 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) joins the World Medical Association in expressing grave concern over the arrests of leaders of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA).We concur with the statement of WMA President Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, who said, in part, “The WMA fully supports our Turkish colleagues in their public statements that war is a public health problem. The WMA has clear policy that physicians and national medical associations should alert governments to the human consequence of warfare and armed conflicts.”

Radio project of Nigerian physicians to “bring peace to the people”

01.12.2017In November 2017, the Society of Nigerian Doctors for the Welfare of Mankind (SNDWM) started a radio programme called “Bringing Peace to the People“. The program was initiated by a group of doctors to educate the public about the effect of violence on health, to aim at preventing violence and thereby creating a peaceful Nigeria. The programme aims to address the burden of small arms violence in Nigeria. Armed conflict due to identity, religious and economic hostilities have plagued Nigeria for over a decade – a situation worsened by the advent of Boko Haram. With 3.3 million internally displaced people, Nigeria is the country with the third highest number of internally displaced people in the world.

Second round of the 12 hours MPW MOOC

11.10.2017 During October and November, the University of Bergen offers a new run of our interactive MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. This MOOC will help you to understand how violence affects health and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. ICAN staff has contributed to the development of one of the six case topics.

Successful MPW MOOC

24.08.2017 2.200 students participated in the first round of the MPW MOOC (massive open online course) on the role of healthcare in maintaining and building peaceful societies. The course included two hours of training per week and helped to understand how violence affects health in multiple ways and how medical peace work has an impact on health, violence prevention and peace-building. Many participants came from UK, Germany, Canada, USA, Kenya etc.

The political determinants of the cholera outbreak in Yemen

18.08.2017 At the end of June, 2017, UNICEF and WHO released a statement declaring that Yemen is “facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world”.1 The statement points out that the outbreak is caused by the civil war that began in 2015, but it does not suggest that one party is more responsible than another, simply noting that “two years of heavy conflict” have resulted in “collapsing health, water and sanitation systems”. Nor does it point to one side being more affected by the outbreak, stating that “cholera has spread to almost every governorate”.

Medicine, Conflict and Survival, August 9,2017

Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field

09.08.2017 On August 9, 2017, the journal „Medicine, Conflict and Survival“ published the article „Healing under fire – medical peace work in the field“ from Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu. Both authors have been instrumental in defining and launching the World Health Organisation´s Health as a Bridge to Peace programme in the 1990s, and are now involved in the MPW partner organization 4Change, whose focus is on the education of health professionals in reducing violence and performing peacebuilding actions. In their article, Louisa Chan Boegli and Maria Gabriella Arcadu write about lessons from a project in Southern Thailand and three asessments carried out in Myanmar, along the Syrian Borders and in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Discussing peace, health and nuclear weapons in the UK

29.06.2017 The joint MEDACT Forum and IPPNW World Congress will be held September 4-6, 2017, at the University of York, United Kingdom. In addition to a packed program during the main Forum/Congress, the IPPNW International Council and Board of Directors meetings will be held on Sunday, Sept 3 and on Thursday, Sept 7.

Battle for Mosul

How the Jiyan Foundation is helping traumatized victims

10.04.2017 Bloodshed and Despair: Fleeing the Battle for Mosul

In 2014, when the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) attacked Sinjar, the Nineveh plains and the city of Mosul, about one million people were displaced within few weeks. The situation has become more severe since October 2016, when the Iraqi army, Peshmerga forces, allied militias and the international coalition launched an operation to retake Mosul. In fact, the number of security incidents has quadrupled, causing fear among civilians, large-scale destruction and displacement, and leaving people with nothing to go back to.

A peace agenda for the new administration

17.01.2017 The looming advent of the Trump administration in Washington threatens to worsen an already deeply troubling international situation. Bitter wars are raging, tens of millions of refugees have taken flight, relations among the great powers are deteriorating, and a new nuclear arms race is underway. Resources that could be used to fight unemployment, poverty, and climate change are being lavished on the military might of nations around the world―$1.7 trillion in 2015 alone. The United States accounts for 36 percent of that global total.

Given this grim reality, let us consider an alternative agenda for the new administration―an agenda for peace.

European health groups launch teaching materials on violence and health

Press release, 9 December 2016, London, United Kingdom

09.12.2016 European health groups launch six online teaching cases to educate nurses, doctors, students and others on the health aspects of violence, war and armed conflict. They will be presented at the Medact conference “Healthy Planet – Better World” on December 10th, 2016 in London.

The cases are part of an educational series to help health professionals to engage in the identification and prevention of violence from the micro level (such as domestic violence, refugee discrimination, and torture) to the macro level (such as nuclear weapons, climate change, and war).

Détente Now

A New Call for Peace, Security, and Cooperation

06.12.2016 A﻿ transatlantic appeal for a new policy of détente with Russia has been launched in Germany. The declaration’s authors invite the general public to join leading political figures and social activists who have publicly rallied to support the call. ﻿ The declaration was initiated by a few concerned citizens of civil society, churches, and science, including Wolfgang Biermann former adviser to Egon Bahr), Peter Brandt (historian), Konrad Raiser (former secretary general of the World Council of Churches), Reiner Hoffmann (chairman of the German Trade Unions Federation), and Horst Teltschik, (former head of Chancellor Kohl’s office and 1999–2008 director of the Munich Security Conference), as well as, from the United States, Daniel Ellsberg (longtime advocate for an informed citizenry).

The report, published in October, received extensive attention in the press and is now gaining traction in the UK Government.

Last week,a motion was tabled in Holyrood by Christina McKelvie from the SNP about the recruitment agenda behind armed forces visits to schools. The motion acknowledges Medact's report, and calls on Parliamentary members to read it.

Medact

The Recruitment of Children by the UK Armed Forces: a Critique from Health Professionals

17.10.2016 Medact’s new report on the long-term impacts of the British military’s recruitment of children under the age of 18, presents evidence linking ‘serious health concerns’ with the policy, and calls for a rise in the minimum recruitment age.

IPPNW Germany Press Release

Greek physician awarded prize for medical peace work

Critic of austerity measures in Greek health system receives award

14.10.2016 The Greek physician and founder of the Greek solidarity hospital “Metropolitan Community Clinic Helliniko” in Athens, Dr. Giorgos Vichas, is to be awarded with an international prize for his medical peace work. The award will be presented this evening at the 5th International “Medicine and Conscience” Congress and comes with a prize of 3,000 Euros. The prize has been donated by the German affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the European “Medical Peace Work” network. A second award will be shared by Fikr Shalltoot, a nurse from Gaza and programme director of the NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza, and the medical organisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

Iraq, Medact & Chilcot

On 6 July 2016, the report of the British public Inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq war, also known as the Chilcot report, was released. Medact released a statement that day calling among other things for the health community to push for more investment in peacebuilding and nonviolent responses to conflict, rather than militarised approaches.

The Value of Hospital Data: Understanding and Preventing Intentional Injury in Liberia

New report published by the Small Arms Survey and IPPNW

Studying the evidence related to the burden of injury of a population is a critical component of developing strategies to prevent and reduce violence. The Value of Hospital Data: Understanding and Preventing Intentional Injury in Liberia is a new Working Paper published by the Small Arms Survey with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). It draws on data provided by the Liberian Armed Violence Observatory (LAVO), an independent institution designed to gather, analyse, and produce reports on armed violence data in Liberia, where high levels of violence have characterized the country’s post-conflict transition.

Peace Finally Makes Global Agenda

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Promoting peace, justice and inclusive societies – Goal 16 - is one of 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). SDG 16 aims to significantly reduce all forms of violence, and work with governments and communities to find lasting solutions to conflict and insecurity. Specific goals within SDG 16 include to, “significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows,” and, to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.” IPPNW will address SDG 16 and firearm violence as a public health issue at the June U.N. Programme of Action on Small Arms 6th Biennial Meeting of States.

IPPNW Germany Press Release

Academics who call for peace should not be persecuted

19.01.2016 The German branch of the medical peace organisation IPPNW today urged foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to call for the immediate release of Turkish intellectuals who have been arrested for signing an appeal to peacefully resolve the conflict with the Kurdish population. In a public petition, a total of 1,128 academics from 89 universities called for the Turkish government to put an end to violence in the region, predominately inhabited by Kurds, and to resume peace negotiations that were broken off last summer. According to media reports, as many as 27 scholars have been arrested and more than 130 are threatened with detention. The public prosecutors in Istanbul are said to be investigating all signatories of the appeal. Many face the threat of punitive action or losing their jobs.

Medact warns against British air strikes in Syria

02.12.2015 While barbarism and callous violence must always be resisted and challenged, a bombing campaign against ISIS will not help bring peace to the region, nor secure freedom and safety in the UK. More likely, reacting to the atrocities in Paris by supporting and expanding the US-led air war against ISIS will grow support for terrorism.

Doctors warn armed violence a threat to health worldwide

Over 700 Gather in London to Advocate for War Prevention, Humanitarian Law, Refugee Assistance

01.12.2015 Armed conflict and militarization pose grave and escalating threats to health worldwide and must be tackled urgently, warned a coalition of leading health, peace, development and security organizations led by IPPNW UK affiliate Medact who met in London on the 13th & 14th November

Overcoming War and Terror

Terrorist Attacks in Paris

18.11.2015 The physicians' peace organisation, IPPNW, is deeply shocked and appalled by the murderous hate of the Paris assassins. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the victims and their families. In view of the terror in Europe, we also remember the victims in Beirut, the Airbus crash over the Sinai desert and those in Ankara as well as the untold dead and injured in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. After the terror attacks in Paris, we appeal to the German government not to answer violence with violence and, in so doing, restrict basic liberties.

IPPNW Board of Directors hold a minute's silence

London, Monday, 16th November, 11 am GMT

16.11.2015 At its London meeting, the Board of Directors of IPPNW decided to join the minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims of terror and war, which was held all across Europe mindful of the dreadful acts of violence in France. The Board explicitly included all victims of hostility.

The Conflict over Ukraine

New front-line of nuclear escalation in Europe

18.11.2015 The relationship between the US and Russia is at all-time low since end of Cold War, and tensions continue to escalate. The US and Russia are no longer negotiating any arms control agreements. The last one was New START in 2010. Communication between NATO and Russia has broken down. Many previous agreements have been neglected, suspended or are endangered. The conflict in Ukraine has led to this relationship deteriorating even further. Nevertheless, we believe that the conflict is a symptom of this relationship, rather than a cause. The front-line from the Cold War has shifted from a divided Germany to a divided Ukraine today.

Report

Turkey: Hospitals are being converted into war zones

13.11.2015 With elections approaching, a 15-member delegation including politicians, journalists, doctors, human rights campaigners and trade-union officials from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands visited the cities Diyarbarkir, Cizre, Nusaybin, Silvan and Mardin in Turkey. They were invited by the peace block of Turkey, an alliance of numerous public organisations as well as public figures in both cultural affairs and politics. IPPNW doctor Dr Angelika Claußen was a member of the delegation.

European health groups launch Medical Peace Work Case Studies

www.medicalpeacework.org

21.09.2015 European health groups today launched new educational materials to educate nurses, doctors, students and others on the health aspects of war, violence and armed conflict. The new case studies form part of the Medical Peace Work framework and depict challenging situations for health professionals in the search of preventing and reducing violence – as well as promoting peace, sustainable development, and human rights. They aim to show the role of doctors, nurses and others in building trust, understanding, mutually enriching structures, and cultures of peace.

End the blockade of Donbass

Humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine

17.09.2015 IPPNW medical practitioners from 15 European countries appealed today to Presidents Poroshenko and Putin, the European Parliament and the OSCE to help lift the blockade of Donbass and allow free access to humanitarian assistance for the population in the region. The Ukraine government further tightened the blockade of the Donbass conflict region in June of this year: food and medical supplies are only allowed into the area controlled by the Separatists unter strict controls.

Ukraine conflict risks nuclear war

Letter to Obama and Putin

11.08.2015 IPPNW co-presidents Ira Helfand and Vladimir Garkavenko have sent the following letter to Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia, expressing the Federation’s concern over the continuing conflict in Ukraine between two heavily armed nuclear States. Dr. Helfand is a member of the board of IPPNW’s US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Garkavenko is a member of the board of IPPNW’s Russian affiliate, Russian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

IPPNW-Statement

IPPNW calls for end to conflict in Ukraine

19.05.2015 The IPPNW Executive Committee discussed the conflict in Ukraine during a conference call on May 19, and has issued the following statement:

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has raised grave concerns about the potential for escalation among the nuclear-armed states engaged in this tragic armed conflict. Nuclear weapons cannot have any role—even rhetorically—in the difficult and dangerous conflict in Ukraine.

The War in Ukraine – a Catastrophe for the People in Ukraine and for Peace in Europe

22.04.2015 What began as social and political protests two and a half years ago has since developed into an armed confrontation between Ukrainian troops with Western backing on the one hand and separatist forces with Russian support on the other. Estimates of combatant and civilian casualties lie somewhere between 6,000 and 50,000. Findings of WHO and UNHCR suggest that it is predominantly women, children and the elderly who are bearing the brunt of war – a phenomenon frequently observed in contemporary wars.

70 years from the Holocaust

Translation of the presentation of the book Nikolaos A. Anastasopoulos "The Jewish Club of Ioannina during the Interwar period."

17.05.2015 The book of Law. Anastasopoulos "The Jewish Club of Ioannina during the interwar period" is published in an important anniversary. This year marks 70 years since the end of the World War II, that - as we want to believe- led to the defeat of Nazism, and caused the horrors of the Holocaust.

On March 25, 1944, day Sabbath, the day of the Greek Independence, in the climate of terror and fear that then prevailed in Ioannina, the thousand years, perhaps longer, Jewish Community of Ioannina, forcibly gathered in the castle and the square Mavili: 1725 people from babies to the elderly, pregnant women up to elderly patients, all the members of the Community, loaded in 97 German head uncovered trucks to be transported through the snowy and icy March, to the extermination camps ...

Body Count - Casualty Figures after 10 Years "War on Terror"

Doctors group releases startling analysis of the death and destruction inflicted upon Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan

19.03.2015 On March 19, 2015 - the 12th anniversary of the military intervention in Iraq - IPPNW Germany together with the affiliates from the US and Canada, PSR and PGS released the fist international edition of "Body Count - Casualty Figures after 10 Years `War on Terror´". The report is a comprehensive account of the vast and continuing human toll of the various “Wars on Terror” conducted in the name of the American people since the events of September 11, 2001. This publication highlights the difficulties in defining outcomes as it compares evaluations of war deaths in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even so, the numbers are horrific. The number of Iraqis killed during and since the 2003 U.S. invasion have been assessed at one million, which represents 5% of the total population of Iraq.

New project: Medical Peace Work 3

Medical Peace Work has gone into a third project round. It has been selected for EU-funding in the period 2014-2016. The new project aims to increase the MPW performance among health professionals through the use of case-based learning methodology. Ten partner organizations will collaborate to develop and to implement narrative case studies, audio-visual cases and a new case-based online course. In contrast to the existing seven MPW courses, the new material will be produced for group work and peer learning, both in formal and non‐formal education. Four of the partner organizations have former experience in collaborating through the MPW partnership. Six new members are included: IPPNW-Norway, Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Samaritan Austria State of Styria, 4-change, The Case Centre, and Medical Mission Institute Würzburg.

November 20, 2014

Refugees need our help to survive the winter

20.11.2014 In August, around 630,000 people were forced to run for their lives with scarcely more than the clothes on their backs. In an eight-day journey by foot they fled from Syria through the Sinjar Mountains to the Kurdish Dohuk Province in Iraq. The group attempting to escape the terror of Islamic State militia included Yazidis, Christians, Turkmens and a great many Arabs.

The "Race to 50" is won!

Peace & Health Blog

At a special ceremony at the United Nations in New York, several states, including the Bahamas, St Lucia, Portugal, Senegal, and Uruguay ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), helping to exceed the magic number of 50 required for the treaty to enter into force.

IPPNW-Report "The health effects of uranium weapons:
The social debate on the use of a controversial weapon"

IPPNW-Statement

IPPNW responds to Gaza crisis

28.07.2014 IPPNW calls for an immediate cease fire between Israel and Hamas. We call on Israel to stop its air strikes and ground invasion of Gaza, and we call on Hamas to stop all rocket attacks on Israel We also call on both sides to allow full access to medical care for all those wounded in the fighting.

IPPNW-Statement

IPPNW statement on crisis in Ukraine

22.07.2014 IPPNW calls call for an immediate cease fire to the fighting in Ukraine and for all states to refrain from any military intervention in Ukraine. We further call on Ukraine to reaffirm its historic decision to renounce nuclear weapons and for Russia to reaffirm the guarantee of Ukraine's territorial integrity that accompanied that decision. We further call for urgent UN mediation to achieve a diplomatic solution to the issues involved in this conflict.

Doctors and Parliamentarians Address Health Impact of Gun Violence at the United Nations

Peace & Health Blog

“On an average day in the United States 86 people are killed by guns,” was one of many alarming facts presented by Dr. Bill Durston, a passionate IPPNW speaker at a June 17th panel conducted by IPPNW, the Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons and IANSA at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York City. The panel focused on how guns affect health and development around the world, and was a well-attended side event at the U.N. Fifth Biennial Meeting of States to Consider Implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Hoping for Peace and Justice

German IPPNW Delegation to Palestine and Israel April 29th - May 10th, 2014

This is the fifth time that IPPNW Germany and Pax Christi has sent a delegation to Palestine and Israel. During their journey through Jerusalem and the West Bank, the 31 participants were able to learn of the hopes and struggles of the Palestinian people. Living with Palestinian host families, they were able to experience daily life under the Israeli policy of occupation and colonization, behind separation walls, fences and check-points. During their 10 day trip, the participants met with numerous Palestinian and Israeli peace and human right groups.

Do we really want a remake?

Crimia Crisis

I am astonished at the way, in which, day after day, you take an anti-Russian stand in the Ukrainian conflict, increasing the possible danger of military confrontation. The present reactions of the European Union, of NATO and the US, and of the national newssheets, including yourselves, are uselessly hostile and dangerous. They even consider a possible war against Russia, treated as if it were still an aggressive Soviet Union.

Praise be to Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk: There are no nuclear weapons in Ukraine!

10.03.2014 When the Soviet Union fell apart, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan became de facto nuclear states. Ukraine had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world with about 5,000 nuclear charges, more than the UK, France, and China put together. The situation was dangerous. Russia, the USA, and Europe all had a strong interest in stopping the proliferation.

IPPNW calls for a negotiated solution to the Ukraine crisis

06.03.2014 IPPNW views with deep concern the recent developments in Ukraine. IPPNW underscores the absolute imperative to avoid the possibility of use of nuclear weapons. This danger exists with any armed conflict involving nuclear armed states or alliances, which could escalate in uncontrollable, unintended and unforeseeable ways.

Planting a Seed: Introducing Medical Peace Work to Medical Students in Africa

Peace & Health Blog

26.03.2014 Medical students growing up in most African countries are confronted and sometimes overwhelmed by the varied needs in their societies including war, disease, poverty, violence, inequality and political instability. With this ‘confrontation’ comes the need to ‘fix’ whatever is wrong. In the past few years, we have noted that African medical students and young doctors are awakening to their responsibility to being more than just hospital workers. One of these areas of awakening is peace work.

An exciting new South/North project of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Finland in cooperation with the Society of Nigerian Doctors for the Welfare of Mankind (SNDWM), Zambian Healthworkers for Social Responsibility (ZHSR), and IPPNW just got a financial boost from the "Mazda Make Things Better Award." The Mazda award was launched at the summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in October, 2013 in Warsaw, and the joint IPPNW project “Raising awarenesson small arms through interactive radio programmes” has now won the first of these awards!

ATT ratification gains traction in Europe, new US policies on arms’ sales

In recent news, the German government, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as MEPs from the European Committee on International Trade all called for EU countries to ratify the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Germany’s foreign minister said ATT ratification would take place as soon as the required European Parliament decision takes place, expected this spring. He, too, called for other states to follow in order to “make the world a safer place.”

Congenital Defects in Iraq

WHO stalls publication of report on effects of uranium weapons

September 26, 2013 – The Iraqi Ministry of Health claims that there is no evidence of an increased rate of congenital birth defects in Iraq, according to their recently published provisional report, which was supported by the WHO.

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) are critical of this claim. The design of the study, previous study results and contradictory assertions by high-ranking officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Health have all cast doubt on the findings.

Let us treat patients in Syria

Open letter by 51 doctors

16.09.2013 IPPNW Co-Presidents Ira Helfand, Robert Mtonga, and Tilman Ruff, former Co-President Sergey Kolesnikov, and a number of affiliate leaders have signed the following call for medical neutrality in Syria. Updates about the appeal can be followed on Twitter at #Doctors4Syria. The same hashtag can be used to comment on the appeal and to forward it to others.

Victims of mustard and nerve gas in Iran-Iraq war now struggle to find inhalers, transplant drugs and other vital medicine

Though medical products are supposed to be excluded from the sanctions on Iran it is extremely difficult to arrange payment and shipment of them.

The resulting shortages of medicines caused by these sanctions has increased the suffering of the people. The victims of weapons of mass destruction have little chance of complete recovery after surgery if they don´t have access to medicines that are usually prescribed.

The German and Swedish IPPNW affiliates are therefore focusing on gaining public and political attention in order to enable imports of medical products and to finally alleviate their shortage by getting medicine into Iran.

Statement by IPPNW on Chemical Weapons and access to Health Care in Syria

27.08.2013 IPPNW firmly believes that chemical weapons, and any weapon of mass destruction, should never be used, and existing stockpiles should be eliminated in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention

Peace and freedom cannot be obtained at the point of a gun

IPPNW Small Arms Congress „Human Target“

31.05.2013 The „Human Target“ Congress on the social and economic impact of the global arms trade is the first international congress on small arms to take place in a region of Germany where the weapons are produced. More than 300 participants from 25 countries, including from Europe, Australia, South-East Asia, Near East, Africa, North and Latin America, are taking part in the Congress.

Peace Boat in Piraeus

08.09.2014 Peace activists in Piraeus and Athens, the capital of Greece, welcomed the Peace Boat (Ocean Dream) to the main Greek Port of Pireas at the end of a round the world voyage for the abolition and the total ban of nuclear weapons. Upon arrival to the Port of Piraeus Mr Yuki Hirayama, on behalf of PeaceBoat and Greek peace organizations, handed the Mayor of Piraeas, Mr Yannis Moralis, a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. Kazumi Matsui, in his capacity as President of the “Mayors for Peace” international movement. Mayors for Peace promotes the gobal 2020 vision campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020.

IPPNW signs letter to President Obama

Support of Arms Trade Treaty

18.03.2013 On March 14th Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Executive Director Dr. Catherine Thomasson delivered to senior White House National Security staff a letter signed by 18 Nobel Peace Laureates including IPPNW, Amnesty International, former president Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Leymah Gbowee, and Oscar Arias, calling on President Obama to support a strong Arms Trade Treaty at the upcoming UN Diplomatic Conference.

PSR’s Dr. Thomasson was part of a delegation that included representatives from the faith, legal, military and human rights communities who delivered other letters of a similar nature signed by leading members of those constituencies.

Social and Health Effects of the Global Arms Trade

International IPPNW Congress in Villingen-Schwenningen in 2013

27.11.2012 Every minute a human being dies from the force of arms. More than 70 percent of these victims are killed by small weapons. The social and health effects of the global small arms trade are the main issue of an international IPPNW congress taking place in Villingen-Schwenningen from May 30 to June 2, 2013, in collaboration with the German campaign „Aktion Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel“. “At our congress in the Neuen Tonhalle we will discuss the social, psychological and medical implications of small arms production and trade. At the same time we want to use this forum to coordinate further activities and to develop perspectives to reduce the production and distribution of these weapons”, says IPPNW board member Dr Helmut Lohrer.

IPPNW Campaign begins in Iran

16.11.2012 In a fine example of IPPNW's physician-to-physician diplomacy, an international IPPNW delegation has been meeting with campaigners and activists in Iran from November 12-15, including one high-profile event at the Tehran Peace Museum which has garnered local media attention. The delegation also visited Shahid Behesty University and area hospitals during their stay.

Mental Health Policy in Iraq since 2003

A Post-Invasion Analysis - report launch

27.10.2012 Medact's report dedicated to Dr Jack Piachaud was launched at the 2012 AGM of the Iraqi Mental Health Forum UK, and in collaboration with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, on October 27th 2012. The meeting included presentations on the background and recommendations of the report, and on the activities of the Iraqi Mental Health Forum and the Iraq Sub-Committee of the Royal College of Psychatrists and their projects in Iraq.

Medact report

Drones: the physical and psychological implications of a global theatre of war

13.10.2012 On October 13th Medact launched its report "Drones: the physical and psychological implications of a global theatre of war". In the past decade, there has been an exponential increase in the proliferation and use of armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as ‘drones’. For the first time in history, it is possible to attack an enemy thousands of miles away without fear of retaliation. In addition to the number of deaths and injuries of innocent civilians caused by their use, there is increasing evidence of the psychological damage to people living under the constant threat of drone attack, and to the drone operators themselves.

IPPNW-Symposium in Mostar

Bosnia-Herzegovina, 8.-10. June 2012

10.06.2012 Our IPPNW meeting here today in Mostar is truly a very special one! This is the tenth time since 1998 that young physicians and medical students from former Yugoslavia meet, not to forget the suffering of the past wars, but to work towards reconciliation, peace and a better future and also to build and consolidate personal friendships. This is the second time that we meet in Mostar. Before, there were three friendship meetings in Sarajevo, two in Belgrade, one in Neum, two in Skopje, and last year we met in Pristina.

Violence Prevention Alliance Launches Plan of Action 2012-2020

23.05.2012 This week the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), of which IPPNW is an active member, launched the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention (GCVP)2012-2020. The VPA is a network of WHO Member States, international agencies and civil society organizations working to prevent violence. This Plan aims to unify the efforts of the main actors in international violence prevention and identify a small set of priorities for the field. It was developed in response to a need for a plan of action identified by hundreds of violence prevention experts who convened at the September 2011 Fifth Milestones in a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa and the April 2012 Violence Prevention Alliance meeting in Munich, Germany.

Appeal for a Denuclearized Middle East

Statement by IPPNW, the Bertrand Russell Foundation, International Globalisation Watch and Veterans for Peace

We are profoundly concerned about the threat of a new war in this region, this time on the pretext of Iran’s nuclear program. We seek to ensure that all diplomatic and political means be employed to resolve the crisis in the relations between Iran and the West on the basis of international law. We proclaim, once again, that there are no military solutions to international problems. We express our solidarity with the Syrian people and we support their right to decide freely and democratically for their future. We are strongly against plans for Libya-type military intervention in Syria.

Press Release IPPNW Germany

Escalation of Violence in Syria – Draft Resolution on Syria

Prevent further militarisation of the conflict in Syria.

In view of the increasing violence in Syria, the physicians' peace organisation, IPPNW, asks the German government, in the Security Council to work for deescalating measures and towards dialogue between the Assad government and the Syrian opposition. The international community should urgently insist on the absence of violence in the demonstrations, as well as that the government resist responding with violent means. The export of weapons of war and other armaments to the region should be stopped immediately.

Stop the violence in Syria – prevent war!

Appeal to the Syrian government and the armed opposition as well as to their international supporters

As members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) we are deeply concerned about the large and growing number of victims of violence in Syria, including a great many individuals not directly involved in the conflict. Numerous physicians, as well others contributing to the care of the injured, are affected. We, as the German section of the IPPNW, also want to raise the alarm about an additional danger. A Western military intervention could set a process in motion that would involve other countries, such a Iran, and thereby lead to a conflagration in the whole region – and one which borders directly with Europe. If NATO becomes involved, this could even result in an open confrontation between the nuclear superpowers.

No military action will prevent nuclear proliferation

IPPNW statement

08.02.2012 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) opposes all military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Attacking Iranian facilities will cause widespread devastation, increase the risk of nuclear proliferation, and halt the chances for peace in the region. IPPNW urges all nations, and Israel and the United States in particular, to refrain from launching military strikes against Iran, and to work with the international community to resolve, through the many diplomatic and non-violent pathways that remain open, the legitimate concerns that Iran may be developing a nuclear weapons capability.

15.12.2011

Calling All Health Professionals!

15.12.2011 If you are a medical or public health professional we need you to add your health voice to our new Medical Alert on Armed Violence petition to the United Nations to call for passage of a strong global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). A delegation of IPPNW medical professionals will deliver the petition to the key negotiators at the UN during the ATT Review Conference in 2012.

Our goal is 25,000 health signatures and you can help.

A Conference for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East

Commentary on the importance of a common and inclusive approach for calming various tensions in the Middle East

With the war drums on Iran sounding again and the Arab Revolts following an arduous path, the question of a sustainable perspective for a conflict-ridden region remains to be dealt with. After all, the lack of both security and cooperation is an enduring malady plaguing the region.

No war on Iran

Online campaign of IPPNW Germany

21.11.2011 The german section of IPPNW has launched an online campaign, addressing Catherine Ashton, European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The signatories call on Ashton, to start extensive diplomatic efforts with Iran, to prevent further escalation: "This includes on the one hand, the involvement of the USA, Russia, China and the Arab League, and on the other hand the implementation of such a strategy in the European Union itself." Take part in the campaign and send an email to Catherine Ashton.

News Release

Turkish doctor wins medical peace work prize

International Medical Peace Award

16.10.2011 The 2011 International Medical Peace Award has been given to Prof. Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci for her courageous opposition to torture and human rights abuses. Dr Fincanci, who is a coroner, high school teacher and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey received the award in recognition of her outstanding medical peace work.

Stop the killing in Libya

Medact sends letter to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

At the beginning of the present conflict in Libya, Medact supported the IPPNW statement calling for an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated end to the conflict. Since then Medact has written several times, and had a meeting with, the FCO's Libya Unit. They continue to be alarmed by the humanitarian consequences of the fighting in Libya, in which the UK armed forces are playing a significant role. Click here to see Medact's latest letter to the Libya Unit and do get in touch with them if you would like to be involved.

Stop the killing in Libya

IPPNW Statement

23.03.2011 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) calls on all parties for an immediate cease fire in Libya. Having established a no fly zone, we call on the governments responsible for the international forces for an immediate halt in all military actions, and on the Libyan government and the Libyan rebels to end the fighting and to seek a peaceful conflict solution, if necessary facilitated by UN negotiators.

European health groups launch Medical Peace Work courses

www.medicalpeacework.org

27.01.2011

European health groups launched today seven freely available, interactive online courses in violence prevention and peacebuilding. The aim of the courses is to educate health professionals about the impact of war and other forms of violence on the health of individuals and populations, and to show how they can make a positive and particular contribution to peace building, violence prevention and conflict transformation. The courses provide the participants with new insights about the special role and responsibility of healthcare professionals in peace work.

Civil Society CSCME Process

09.11.2010 The basic principle that civil society can and must make an important contribution to conflict solving, as long as the states do not see their way clear to do so, is as relevant in the region of the Middle East as elsewhere. The planned civil society Regional Conference for Security and Cooperation is thought of as an on-going civil society body, consisting of experts and of NGOs from the region.

The Continuing Korean War and IPPNW

An Essay by Gunnar Westberg

30.11.2010 To understand what is going on in Korea it is helpful to try to see the conflict from the other side, from that of North Korea. There is no peace agreement after the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with an armistice agreement. There is still a state of war between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK, and the USA.

IPPNW brings health message to UN First Committee on Disarmament, NYC

12.11.2010 IPPNW co-president Dr. Robert Mtonga participated with members of the Control Arms Coalition and the new joint Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC)/International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) at the recent First Committee on Disarmament and International Security session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in October.

IPPNW Raises Health Voice at the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms 4th Biennial Meeting of States

20.07.2010

Aiming for Prevention coordinator Maria Valenti and PSR Philadelphia Executive Director Patricia Harner joined IPPNW physicians Sina Helbig (Germany), Robert Mtonga (Zambia), Emperatriz Crespin (El Salvador), Ime John (Nigeria), and Cathey Falvo, Vic Sidel (US) in bringing an important health perspective to the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) in New York City, which was convened to review implementation of the UN’s Programme of Action to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Dr. Mtonga served on the official Zambian delegation and helped inject text on the importance of health into the Zambian statement submitted to the meeting.

IPPNW recommends public health action plan to UN small arms meeting

18.06.2010

As an NGO participant at the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS), which was convened to review implementation of the UN’s action plan to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, IPPNW had an opportunity to address the conference on Thursday, June 17, during a special civil society session.

Joint Statement on the Armed Assault on Ships to Gaza

08.06.2010

Palestinian Physicians For the Prevention of Nuclear War (PPPNW) and the Israeli Physicians For Peace and the Preservation Of The Environment (IPPPE) Affiliates of International Physicians For the Prevention of Nuclear War agree as follows:

Deutsche Bank announces divestment from Elbit

27.05.2010

Germany’s biggest bank Deutsche Bank has divested the bank’s 2% stake in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company that supplies the Israeli military and provides components for the Apartheid Wall in Occupied Palestinian Territory that was found to be in violation of international law by the International Court of Justice. The announcement at the Bank’s AGM today follows a concerted campaign from German human rights organisations.

Medical Peace Work

Internet course starts on its second round

03/18/2010

The internet course for Medical Peace Work starts on its second round. The cost-free training offer for physicians, healthcare professionals and medical students is online since two years. The course is subdivided into seven modules, which provide the participants with new insights about the role of healthcare professionals in peace progress.

Global Response 2010

The conference took place in Copenhagen from the 22nd to the 25th of January 2010 and we are happy to announce that is has been a great success and that we have received lots of positive feedback.

We are currently working in the upload of all material from the conference which will be made available to you during the coming month. Through the link below you can find abstracts, the official conference programm, links to themed issues of scientific journals and all press coverage from the conference. More will follow, including videos of all speaker, conference newsletters and the power point presentations of speakers. We are working on a final report which will be available online.

IPPNW Press Release from 18. January 2010

USA are seeking alternatives for Depleted Uranium (DU)

IPPNW demands ban of Depleted Uranium

18.01.2010 The United States are seeking alternatives for depleted uranium (DU) ammunition. According to Dave Cullen from the “International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons” (ICBUW), the Maneuver Ammunition Systems – an government body which manages ammunition procurement for the US military – intends to stop the use of DU in weapons.“This is a first step in the right direction. Depleted uranium was used systematically in both Gulf Wars and is most likely a main cause for the increased numbers of cancer among the Iraqi population”, says IPPNW chair Dr. Angelika Claußen. IPPNW urges the German government to follow the example of Belgium and to stop the production and use of DU.

Peace through Health

How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World

12.10.2009 We typically define and talk about wars using the language of politics, but what happens when you bring in a doctor’s perspective on conflict? Can war be diagnosed like an illness? Can health professionals participate in its mitigation and prevention? The contributors to Peace through Health: How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World engage with these ground-breaking ideas and describe tools that can further peace once war is understood as a public health problem.

Basrah Epidemiology Study team meets in Turkey

Reliable cancer registry

21.07.2009 Members of ICBUW and IPPNW-Germany have met with experts from the Basrah Cancer Research Group (BCRG) in Istanbul, Turkey for an update on the activities of an epidemiological study project in Basrah and to discuss future research plans, which will be funded partly by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Three experts from the BCRG attended the meeting held in Istanbul on July 13th and 14th, together with members of IPPNW-Germany and two German epidemiologists who have given scientific support to members of the Iraqi group.

War crimes in Gaza - the case of DU

Report of the meeting

08.07.2009 On July 8, 2009 a meeting of NGO’s and Press took place successfully in Athens about "War crimes in Gaza – the case of DU". Maria Arvaniti Sotiropoulou President of the Greek Affiliate of IPPNW explained why we organized this meeting. She made a short review of DU weapons. IPPNW Greece was the first NGO which published the issue (1991) and in 2001 informed the press about the use of these weapons in Yugoslavia before NATO did. In the same year we forced the Greek government to accept that that the Greek army not only possessed but had already used these weapons in exercises of the Greek Navy.

Medical Voices Against Violence

A project of IPPNW's Aiming for Prevention Program

15.06.2009 IPPNW's new "Medical Voices Against Violence" project features stories of personal experiences with violence, especially gun violence, from IPPNW members - doctors, nurses, medical students and and other heath professionals. We will use these stories to educate others about the human costs of violence via IPPNW's "Aiming for Prevention" campaign, and to advocate for violence prevention using a public health approach.

Statement on the Use of White Phosphorus by Israeli Forces in Gaza

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

06.02.2009 IPPNW notes with grave concern the use of white phosphorus by Israeli forces in the recent war against Gaza. As physicians committed to reducing the suffering brought by warfare, we recognise the inhumane and indiscriminate effects of white phosphorus, and strongly condemn its use in armed conflict under any circumstances.

Stop the bloodshed!

IPPNW Statement on the Violence in Gaza and the conflict between Israel and Palestine

06.01.2009 We, physicians who have the mission to protect life and promote health, cannot accept the present suffering and bloodshed taking place in Gaza. We urge all parties to immediately take all the necessary steps to achieve an immediate, complete, and stable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the South of Israel, and to provide sufficient medical care for all the victims who suffer from severe injuries.

IPPNW-founder honored with “Lown Peace Bridge”

18.10.2008 On October 17, 2008 the South Bridge connecting the cities Lewiston and Aubury in Main, USA was renamed after the IPPNW-founder Bernard Lown. Governor John E. Baldacci of Main expressed his hope that by renaming the bridge future generations will remember Bernard Lown and be inspired by his “incredible humanitarian efforts”.

No to War - No to NATO

Appeal agreed in Stuttgart 5th October 2008

05.10.2008 On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the NATO military organisation, we appeal to all people to come to Strasbourg and Kehl in April 2009, to protest against NATO’s aggressive military and nuclear policies, and assert our vision of a just world free of war. NATO is an increasing obstacle to achieving world peace. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has reinvented itself as a tool for military action by the “international community”, including the promotion of the so-called “war on terror”.

Culture of Peace

A Small Report from the Congress

25.09.2008 From September 12th to 14th IPPNW Germany held its 3rd Open Congress for a Culture of Peace in the Urania in Berlin. For three days 700 participants and experts were debating to identify paths to recovery and to promote constructive proposals for more peaceful world order. More than 50 experts from all over the world gave lectures, from Ecuador, Kenya, Canada, South Africa or Palestine.

Medicine Conflict and Survival

15.09.2008 An international journal for all those interested in political violence, health and human rights. Abstracts and contents can be viewed through the web site http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/mcs

IPPNW calls for Ceasefire between Russia and Georgia

World Court Submission recommended

11.08.2008 The armed conflict between Russia and Georgia is extremely dangerous and needs to be brought to a halt immediately. The impact on innocent civilians is mounting and, if allowed to continue, could spiral out of control. Further, were this territorial dispute to draw in neighboring European countries and the United States, the conflict could escalate into a confrontation between the two largest nuclear-armed states.

Medical Peace Work

Launch of e-learning course

11.03.2008 The course is the world´s first of its kind and it applies the latest e-learning technology in offering seven separate but interlinked modules, available free of charge to physicians, health workers and students globally. The MPW-partnership is built on an already existing European network of medical peace organizations and teaching institutions that gathered during The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999 and the IPPNW World Congress in Paris in the year 2000.

Health Hazards of Use of Depleted Uranium in Wars

18th World Congress of IPPNW

10.03.2008 We, the health specialists, who have been working for peace, disarmament and nuclear abolition from all over the world, have been deeply concerned about the potentially harmful effects on the environment and human health, which may be caused by the radioactive and chemical toxicity of DU following the use of DU weapons.

Globalisation and War

Speech of Susan George

10.03.2008 "IPPNW was founded in the context of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. So it may seem to many of you a kind of heresy to say that those times, although surely terrifying in their own way, also provided a strange kind of stability. No place on earth could be considered unimportant by the super-powers because any place could become a base, a staging area, a strategic pawn for the other side. Today the situation is utterly changed. There are a great many places that are not worth bothering about; they are full of losers, of the excluded, the hundreds of millions of rubbish people."

Iraq healthcare in disarray, report says

Report by Medact

16.01.2008 Iraq's healthcare is in disarray with doctors and nurses fleeing abroad and child death rates soaring, according to a report on Wednesday. Up to 75 percent of Iraq's doctors, pharmacists and nurses have left their jobs since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. More than half of those have emigrated, the report by health organisation Medact said.

Effects of small arms violence

IPPNW researchers document

15.11.2007 The Journal of Public Health Policy has published an important new series of articles on small arms in Africa written by IPPNW researchers active in the Aiming For Prevention program on small arms and light weapons (SALW) violence. All of the articles in the special section of the November issue of JPHP, entitled "Small Arms and Light Weapons in Africa - A Major Challenge to Public Health and Development," were made freely available online for the first month of publication as part of a broader initiative by the Council of Science Editors.

War and Public Health

Preventing the consequences

15.10.2007 Oxford University Press has just published the second edition of a comprehensive, authoritative and all-new book on the public health consequences of war by two long-time IPPNW leaders. War and Public Health, edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel, explores the effects of war on health, human rights, and the environment, and describes what health professionals can do to minimize those consequences and help prevent war altogether. The health and environmental impact of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction "nuclear, chemical, and biological" is described in detail.

Congress Statement

If you want peace, work for health!

10.09.2006 The 17th IPPNW World Congress took place in Helsinki, Finland from 7th to 10 September 2006. The motto of the Congress was War or Health? Themes of the congress were: nuclear abolition; small arms and the public health impact of war; and energy security. A statement was issued at the close of the congress.

Medical Peace Work

Health Personnel in Violence Prevention

"The role of physicians and other health workers in the preservation and promotion of peace is the most significant factor for the attainment of health for all." (World Health Assembly, Resolution 34.38, 1981) With the Medical Peace Work project we wish to strengthen a new field in medicine and health sciences that deals with the role and professional responsibility of health workers in violence prevention and sustainable peace building.